It is well known that windshield lighting systems on airplanes and superimposed over pilot helmet masks can give illuminated cues as to conditions that the pilot or co-pilot should be aware of. These systems may also be translated to an automobile windshield to give the same sort of information, safety and car maintenance information to a driver. It is also well known that Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) and computer based systems now exist on vehicles to pass information beyond immediate, navigational and maintenance information onto drivers and passengers alike.
Currently, the use of GPS and in-vehicle recommendation systems use voice activation or mounted screen on the dashboard to display useful information about goods, services and directions. Certain services also hold a user's favorite selections and history to make them easily accessible to the user via the system interface. Services, such as OnStar®, have made this practice increasingly popular among drivers and passengers by providing useful directions, recommendations about goods, food, entertainment and services and suggested maintenance. Windshield display systems have functioned solely for directional, gauge monitoring, maintenance info and warning systems related to external and internal conditions.
Conventional models address the windshield system and the recommendation elements of services such as the OnStar® system separately. The two elements do not merge in any current deployments in the marketplace. Vehicle recommendation systems use history and preferences input by the user to generate recommendations, but those recommendations are communicated to the user only when the user requests the recommendations. There is no implied preference or collaborative filtering utilized to generate additional recommendations based upon trends of the user or a relatable community of data to the user's data. As stated previously, recommendation systems such as OnStar® and the windshield guidance and warning system displays have not merged in the field. Conventional models of the windshield system utilize data and sensors, which may also appear on the dashboard, to provide the driver and or co-pilot with data fed through the sensor and gauge system to a microprocessor which transmits the corresponding data to lighted displays deployed on or within the windshield glass. These displays are coded to represent the data obtained by the gauges and sensors in useful ways to the driver/pilot and or co-pilot.
Unfortunately, the existing conventional uses have certain limitations in distribution and deployment. First of all, the OnStar® systems and the windshield interface communications systems run in completely separate formats and are not integrated to display non-critical driving information upon the windshield. Secondly, the display of OnStar® type recommendations and preferences does not provide a collaborative filtering or advanced data analysis tool utilizing research trend information to generate additional recommendation for the user to generate additional information which could be deployed upon the windshield interface system.
Accordingly, there is a need for an integrated system that combines all functions of the windshield warning system with all functions of the OnStar® driver navigation, assistance and recommendation systems. Additionally, the OnStar® style system needs to integrate user recommendations based upon external data and fuse that service into the windshield interface deployment. Further, updated sensor and lighting technology need to be integrated into the windshield system to maximize the effectiveness and durability of the windshield interface system.